‘No sorties in the area’: Moscow says reports on deadly Idlib airstrike are ‘fake’

No Russian jet has flown a combat sortie over the Idlib district in Syria, Moscow has said. The defense ministry was responding to allegations by “UK- and US-funded White Helmets” that civilians were killed in a Russian airstrike.

The alleged attack targeted the town of Maaret al-Numan, it’s been claimed. Dubbing the information “fake,” the ministry said “the Russian Air Force hadn’t carried out any missions in this part of Syria.”

Previously, an array of media outlets reported that at least 19 people were killed and several dozen injured in an attack on a wholesale vegetable market in the jihadi-held Idlib province. The reports cited the notorious White Helmets and the UK-based Syrian Observatory of Human Rights.

Idlib remains the last pocket of Islamist resistance within Syria, after large swaths of land were liberated either by military force or through negotiations with militants. Various jihadist groups hold ground there, including the Al-Qaeda-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly known as Al-Nusra Front).

Russia has teamed up with Turkey to introduce a full ceasefire in all of Idlib province, but so far to no avail. As recently as May, Russian military reported that insurgents hiding out in Idlib had fired more than a dozen missiles at Khmeimim airbase, all of which were intercepted mid-air.

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